GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA
SESSION 2001

SENATE BILL 825
RATIFIED BILL

AN ACT TO EXEMPT FROM THE CONTESTED CASE PROVISIONS OF THE ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEDURE ACT CONTRACT DISPUTES BETWEEN THE teachers' and STATE EMPLOYEES' comprehensive major medical plan anD ENTITIES UNDER CONTRACT WITH THE PLAN; AND TO CLARIFY THAT A STATE AGENCY MAY SEEK RELIeF UNDER THE DECLARATORY JUDGMENT act.

The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:

SECTION 1.  G.S. 150B‑1(e) reads as rewritten:
"(e)	Exemptions From Contested Case Provisions. – The contested case provisions of this Chapter apply to all agencies and all proceedings not expressly exempted from the Chapter. The contested case provisions of this Chapter do not apply to the following:
(1)	The Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources in complying with the procedural safeguards mandated by Section 680 of Part H of Public Law 99‑457 as amended (Education of the Handicapped Act Amendments of 1986).
(2)	Repealed by Session Laws 1993, c. 501, s. 29.
(3)	The North Carolina Low‑Level Radioactive Waste Management Authority in administering the provisions of G.S. 104G‑9, 104G‑10, and 104G‑11.
(4)	The North Carolina Hazardous Waste Management Commission in administering the provisions of G.S. 130B‑11, 130B‑13, and 130B‑14.
(5)	Hearings required pursuant to the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, (Public Law 93‑122), as amended and federal regulations promulgated thereunder. G.S. 150B‑51(a) is considered a contested case hearing provision that does not apply to these hearings.
(6)	The Department of Revenue.
(7)	The Department of Correction.
(8)	The Department of Transportation, except as provided in G.S. 136‑29.
(9)	The Occupational Safety and Health Review Board.
(10)	The North Carolina Global TransPark Authority with respect to the acquisition, construction, operation, or use, including fees or charges, of any portion of a cargo airport complex.
(11)	Hearings that are provided by the Department of Health and Human Services regarding the eligibility and provision of services for eligible assaultive and violent children, as defined in G.S. 122C‑3(13a), shall be conducted pursuant to the provisions outlined in G.S. 122C, Article 4, Part 7.
(12)	The North Carolina Teachers' and State Employees' Comprehensive Major Medical Plan with respect to disputes involving the performance, terms, or conditions of a contract between the Plan and an entity under contract with the Plan."SECTION 2. Part 2 of Article 3 of Chapter 135 of the General Statutes is amended by adding the following new section to read:
"§ 135-39.11. Contract disputes.
A dispute involving the performance, terms, or conditions of a contract between the Plan and an entity under contract with the Plan is not a contested case under Article 3 of Chapter 150B of the General Statutes."
SECTION 3.  G.S. 1‑265 reads as rewritten:
"§ 1‑265.  Word 'person' construed.
The word 'person' wherever used in this Article, shall be construed to mean any person, State agency, partnership, joint‑stock company, unincorporated association, or society, or municipal corporation or other corporation of any character whatsoever."
SECTION 4.  This act is effective when it becomes law and applies to cases pending on that date.
In the General Assembly read three times and ratified this the 6th day of June, 2001.

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		 Beverly E. Perdue
	 President of the Senate

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		 James B. Black
	 Speaker of the House of Representatives

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		 Michael F. Easley
	 Governor

Approved __________.m. this ______________ day of ___________________, 2001